The Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) and the National Storm Shelter Association (NSSA) deliver safe rooms valued at $45,000 to be installed in disaster affected homes. Safe rooms were donated to Henryville families after the town was devastated by an EF-4 tornado in March of this year.

Safe rooms save lives and thanks to the support of our partners NSSA, Habitat for Humanity and First Baptist Church of Henryville, eight families...will have a safe haven should disaster strike again.Leslie Chapman-Henderson FLASH President & CEO

Henryville, IN (PRWEB) October 10, 2012

The Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH)® and the National Storm Shelter Association (NSSA) will install high wind safe rooms for eight families rebuilding after a EF-4 tornado devastated their small community in March 2012. The safe rooms, valued at more than $45,000, were donated to Habitat for Humanity during the Rebuilding Henryville concert featuring Grammy-award winning country music group Lady Antebellum.

“Safe rooms save lives and thanks to the support of our partners NSSA, Habitat for Humanity and First Baptist Church of Henryville, eight families in Henryville will have a safe haven should disaster strike again,” said Leslie Chapman-Henderson FLASH President and CEO. “We are eternally grateful to Lady Antebellum for allowing us the opportunity to engage the community in this life saving message.“

"First Baptist Church Henryville has sought to serve our community as it seeks to rebuild after the March 2nd tornadoes,” said Pastor Toby Jenkins. “Being able to partner with FLASH has given us the opportunity to provide for the physical needs of families, while we continue to proclaim the great news of God's grace for their lives."

A high wind safe room can provide ultimate life safety protection from the dangerous forces of severe winds and tornadoes. Safe rooms that meet NSSA, International Code Council (ICC) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) standards are designed to withstand up to 250 mile-per-hour winds, and offer lifesaving refuge for families in the path of high-wind events like tornadoes.

Homeowners can build or retrofit the interior spaces of their homes to safe-room standards or choose to purchase pre-fabricated safe rooms designed to withstand tornado-force winds. Closets, bathrooms, laundry rooms and outdoor rooms like garden sheds and pool houses can be enhanced to serve as safe rooms.

Published jointly by ICC and NSSA, the ICC 500: 2008 Standard for the Design and Construction of Storm Shelters provides minimum design and construction requirements for storm shelters. A second standard, the ICC 600: 2008 Standard for Residential Construction in High-Wind Regions, specifies prescriptive methods to provide wind resistant designs and construction details for residential buildings of masonry, concrete, wood-framed or cold-formed steel framed construction sited in high wind regions. The standard provides requirements and other details of construction for buildings sited in wind climates of 100 to 150 mph in 10 mph increments. Additionally, FEMA P-320, Taking Shelter From the Storm, Building a Safe Room For Your Home or Small Business, helps homeowners and small business owners assess their risk and determine the best type of safe room to meet their needs.

The donation of safe rooms originally took place during the ICC Foundation’s annual month long celebration of Building Safety Month in honor of Disaster Safety Week. The week was co-sponsored by FLASH and FEMA. Companies that donated safe rooms included:

Bartow Precast

Flat Safe Tornado Shelters, LLC

Missouri Storm Shelters, Inc.

Norwalk Concrete Industries

The Perfect Storm Shelters, LLC

Safe Sheds, Inc.

Vaughn Concrete Products, Inc.

Wieser Concrete Products, Inc.

About FLASH

Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) ®, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is the country’s leading consumer advocate for strengthening homes and safeguarding families from natural and manmade disasters. FLASH collaborates with more than 100 innovative and diverse partners that share its vision of making America a more disaster-resistant nation including: BASF, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Florida Division of Emergency Management, The Home Depot®, International Code Council®, Kohler Power Systems, National Weather Service, RenaissanceRe, Simpson Strong-Tie®, State Farm®, USAA® and WeatherPredict Consulting Inc. In 2008, FLASH opened the interactive weather experience StormStruck: A Tale of Two Homes® in Lake Buena Vista, FL. Learn more about FLASH and gain access to its free consumer resources by visiting http://www.flash.org or calling (877) 221-SAFE (7233). Also, get timely safety tips to ensure that you and your family are always well protected from natural and manmade disasters by subscribing to the FLASH blog – Protect Your Home in a FLASH.